Odeon West End
| Odeon West End | |
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Odeon West End
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| Former names | Leicester Square Theatre |
| General information | |
| Status | Closed |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Classification | Cinema |
| Location | London |
| Address | 40 Leicester Square Leicester Square |
| Town or city | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°30′36″N 0°07′49″W / 51.5099°N 0.1303°W |
| Opened | 19 December 1930 |
| Renovated | 12 December 1968 22 July 1988 |
| Closed | 1 January 2015 |
| Client | Odeon Cinemas |
| Owner | Edwardian Group |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 5 |
| Lifts/elevators | 1 (staff access only) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Andrew Mather (1930) |
| Architecture firm | Arnold Dick Associates (1968 rebuild) |
| Known for | Premieres, Public Screenings Cast & Crew Screenings Live music venue |
| Other information | |
| Seating type | plush fixed seating |
| Seating capacity | 500 (screen 1) 832 (screen 2) |
| Parking | offsite |
The Odeon West End, from 1930 to 1988 known as Leicester Square Theatre, was a cinema on the south side of Leicester Square, London. It contained two screens—screen 1 seats 500 and screen 2 seats 832. It was often used for smaller film premieres, and hosted the annual BFI London Film Festival. The building is opposite the much larger flagship Odeon Leicester Square.
Odeon Cinemas sold the building to three Irish investors in 2006, though continued to lease it. In 2012 it was bought by the Radisson Edwardian hotel group and closed as a cinema on 1 January 2015, ahead of planned redevelopment as a luxury hotel.
The Leicester Square Theatre was built for actor/film star Jack Buchanan and impresario Walter Gibbons. Jack Buchanan had a large two-storey apartment built on top of the theatre, which he occupied until it was damaged by bombing in late-October 1940. Natwest Bank later occupied this as their main London offices spread over two floors, but was later vacated in the early 2000s and left in quite a state. It was damaged by squatters a few years later with graffiti everywhere, ceiling tiles punched out and carpet ripped up.
Initially intended as a live theatre, there were problems acquiring adjacent properties and the stage space proved insufficient. The Leicester Square Theatre was designed by architect Andrew Mather and opened on 19 December 1930 as a dual purpose live theatre/cinema with 1,760 seats in stalls, dress circle and balcony levels. There were three boxes adjacent to each side of the proscenium at dress circle level, but these were only used during live performances. The foyer walls were decorated with polished black marble. The first operators were Warner Brothers and the opening programme was the Warner Brothers two-tone Technicolor film Viennese Nights starring Vivienne Segal supported by a stage dance production including Balliol and Merton and the Victoria Girls. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer 3Manual/10Rank theatre organ.
It was taken over in March 1931 by RKO Radio Pictures. In July 1931, Gracie Fields appeared for a week 'twice-nightly' as a prelude to her film Sally in Our Alley. Jack Hulbert song and dance show 'The R.K.O. Loudspeakers' was staged as part of the film programme in August 1931. It was taken over by County Cinemas and renamed Olympic Theatre from 21 March 1932, re-opening with John Stuart in In a Monastery Garden. County Cinemas had commissioned architect Alister G. MacDonald to re-design the entrance and the interior was re-designed by Edward Carrick. A revolve was installed in the centre of the stage at this time. It closed in July 1932 and Jack Buchanan took control again. In August 1932 films were dropped in favour of non-stop variety which began with Non-Stop Revels live on stage, non-stop from two 'til midnight daily. Marie Kendall singing Just Like the Ivy, was one of the artistes appearing. This policy lasted for almost a year.
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